China’s central bank set an Oct. 15 deadline for all third-party payment companies to complete connections with a newly established online clearinghouse, Caixin reports. The bank is stepping up oversight of the nation’s $7.9 trillion third-party payment market. According to a document issued Aug. 4 by the People’s Bank of China, all banks and payment companies must connect their systems with the Online Settlement Platform for Non-Bank Payment Institutions. All payment transactions handled by third-party providers will go through the new clearing platform starting June 30 next year. The new clearinghouse started trial operation March 31. It is designed as a key element of financial infrastructure that will put all of the country’s 200 or more payment companies under a standard set of clearing protocols and rules. In the past, transactions from different companies such as Alipay and Tenpay have been handled under different terms with banks, falling outside the central bank’s oversight.
China Economic Review